Naruto: Havoc Amongst His Final Breath
by x HoRo HoRo
Summary: His final war, his final stand, and his final breath. After a Konoha elite shinobi was kidnapped by Orochimaru, the mission is accounted for Naruto, retrieve him. Death, love, chances, and traitors, all in one. 'Naruto' Sakura cried... no... he's dead.
1. The Close Escape, Uzumaki Naruto Is Free

**Summary:** His final war, his final stand, and his final breath. After a Konoha elite shinobi was kidnapped by Orochimaru, the mission is accounted for Naruto retrieve him. Death, love, chances, and traitors, all in one. 'Naruto' Sakura cried... no... he's dead.

**Rated:** "T" for language, and violence throughout.  
**Disclaimer: **Yes, I don't own Naruto.

**a/n:** This is a repost of **Naruto: Orochimaru and the Pain Within Naruto**, so this would probably explain why there are 47 or so reviews for one chapter. Sorry.

**Naruto: Havoc Amongst His Final Breath  
**By: x HoRo HoRo  
**Chapter One:  
**The Close Escape, Uzumaki Naruto Is Free

* * *

Every second, a drip of water would slash onto the rotten steel ground from a broken water pipe within the dark walls of the cell. Cracks, and open cuts from the walls gave away a foul smell that made Uzumaki Naruto cover his nose with his orange sleeves. 

The air around him felt thick and moist. Every single breath he'd take would make him gag as if he drowned and needed clean fresh air to breathe from. Everytime he were to move, it would feel as if bugs crawled under him, and he needed to scratch all around just to get rid of the feeling.

_Hell_ was what Naruto called it. A small hellish cell where he sat on a half broken down steel bench with one toilet and a small blanket used for a bed. For five days he sat there just thinking about what he would do in order to get out, in order to be free, and in order to just change things before he was captured. How dumb he thought.

Only one guard stood outside of his cell, but that guard stood lazy. The whole time guarding Naruto, he'd sleep and snore, annoying Naruto every single second. Naruto swore that he'd rather be beatened and kill rather then get tortured by the irritating noise. The guard was of course overweight or his height, and from Naruto's point of view; stubborn just as well as he is from time to time.

For five days and four nights, he sat without eating. A glass of water came to him every three hours, but that was it. For five days and four nights he was left starving; his stomach grumbled the cries of food every minute. The pain was bearable, but lasting for the length that he has lasted, it was soon going to be unbearable.

Naruto hoped that if he couldn't find a way out, that his friends, either Sakura, Shikamaru, or anyone else would help him soon before he starves to death or is killed in the hands of the enemy who kept him in a dirty rotting hell cell; Orochimaru.

Only the fear of torture came through his mind before death. But, as long as he would be killed before torture, Naruto would be fine with it... that is _if_ he doesn't find a way to escape. Naruto could only pray and hope that someone saves him before it's too late.

A drop of cold filthy water splashed on his yellow blonde hair. He twitched as the drop managed to get passed his hair and into his skull. He felt anger inside, and pain throughout his body; not the pain of hunger, but the pain of frustration. Before he knew it, he was yelling at the guard outside of his cell.

"Baka!" He urged out. "How much longer until I get out of here?" After yelling, Naruto slammed his fist against the cell bars, but only to feel pain run through his veins. The metal vibrations shook his hurtful hands, forcing him to hold them together.

The guard snorted, "Humph, dumb kid, sit your ass down and shut up."

The words struck Naruto through the eyes, and angered him even more. "Say it again..."

The guard stood up and faced Naruto through the cell bars. He smiled, and very slowly pointed his finger up at Naruto. Naruto's eyes squeezed shut as he felt the urge to yell and scream with the force of a punch to the face, but through the cell bars, he couldn't do a thing. The bars were too close together for even him to fit three if his fingers through. The only thing Naruto was able to do was take the taunt.

"Sit your ass down," The guard slowly moved his lips for the last few words. "And shut the hell up." After another grin on his face, he sat back down on his chair that stood only a few feet away from the right side of Naruto's cell.

"Oh, you're going to get it!" Naruto held out his palm in front of him, and concentrated on gathering his chakra. Once he formed a small orb of chakra in his hand, he was ready to strike, but only a second later, the orb disappeared. "Raseng-" Naruto paused as he stared at what had happened to his Rasengan.

"Its useless kid, don't you think Orochimaru-sama is smart enough to handle you?"

"N-nani?" Naruto tried forming up chakra again, but the same thing happened.

"I guess you are dumber than what Orochimaru-sama told me... the cell you're in is chakra protected." The guard crossed his arms and looked around into the cell. "Whenever you try to form or use chakra, the cell drains it, and synthesizes itself; making it stronger and harder to break through."

"Na-"

"So if you want to be saved, I suggest that you don't make the cell stronger and give your friends a hard time to break... that is _if_ they're coming." The guard suddenly gave an evil laugh, only louder and louder he got until calming down to his relaxed position once again.

Naruto felt like trying his Rasengan once again, but after those words, he knew better. But even though he knew, the urge of creating his most powerful attack that he knows just kept on creeping up on him. Every second, he felt the chakra in his body enlarge, felt that he would be able to mold chakra even in the cell. But for once, he decided to play smart.

Not knowing what else he could possible do, Naruto slammed himself back down onto the steel bench and sighed. _Think Naruto, think!_ He thought to himself. If he tried beating down the cell bars, he'd just end up hurting himself, and if he tried using chakra, it would be a waste.

For the next few minutes, Naruto sat speechless. Anger gathered in him as he grinded his teeth the whole entire time. His frustration wanted him to just kill the guard, but he couldn't when there is a cell-chakra-eater keeping him captive.

"Hey." Naruto's ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice. Quickly, he turned around and saw a face that he would never ever forget.

"Sasuke!" Naruto darted towards the bars and tried to pull the bars apart with the minimum strength he had, but they didn't budge.

Seeing Sasuke was the last thing he wanted to be in front of his eyes for the rest of his life. After the things he has done to him and Konoha, the only thing Naruto wanted to do was slice his throat with his kunai and have him bleed to death on the damp steel ground.

Sasuke turned towards Naruto, without an expression, he turned back to the guard. The guard immediately stood up straight with his heels together, and his arms to the side. His overweight belly hung over a few inches. Sasuke held a hand over his mouth in disgust.

"Sasuke-sama!" The guard yelled out. A sweat-drop fell from his cheeks. He seemed to fear Sasuke even though being allies with him. "W-what is it?"

"Orochimaru says that he will see Naruto now." Sasuke exclaimed.

The guard hesitated before answering, "H-hai... Sasuke-sama." He reached in his pocket, and while he did that, Sasuke turned back to Naruto and darted eyes towards him. Staring at him with evil black pupils.

"Naruto..." Naruto eyed him vigorously, his eyes showed attack, and revenge against the Uchiha bastard. "I'm going to let you out now... but don't do anything stupid. Not only the cell you're in takes away the chakra you mold, but it also been slowly draining some out of your body... so if you do attack, you won't last long at all." Naruto grunted, but kept his eyes on Sasuke. "Orochimaru has quite some power doesn't he?"

When the keys jingled inside the key hole, the cell bars flew open fast; fast enough to where it created just enough wind to blow both Naruto and Sasuke's hair like a morning breeze.

Naruto clenched his fist tightly, but didn't attempt an attack; though he sure had the urge to kill his old comrade at the moment. Slowly, Sasuke stepped back a few steps, letting Naruto room to walk out of the cell and also giving room for him to make quick reaction incase Naruto rebelled.

A grin crossed Sasuke's face as he started walking down a dark hall. Shadows crept over him shortly, almost vanishing him within the darkness. Naruto took a moment to stare and think.

"Hurry up Naruto... You don't want to keep Orochimaru waiting." Sasuke's voice trailed off in an echo when it reached Naruto. Naruto took a breather, and hoped for the best, then started forward, several meters behind Sasuke, who was now unseen within the dark to Naruto's naked eye.

_This could be trouble..._ Naruto thought. _I don't know what I'm in for, should I go with my wits and kill Sasuke while I have the chance?_ Naruto quickly shook his head, and slapped himself on the cheeks. _No, I'll only get myself killed. This place is full of people. Me against Sasuke and the others would just be dumb._

"Hey, baka, hurry up!" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto made a face and jotted up until he was inches behind him. Naruto pictured himself strangling Sasuke right here right now, and the picture was fine until Orochimaru came. If that were to happen, Naruto would for sure not live long.

The hall that they walked upon was pitch-black. Naruto almost couldn't see Sasuke or his own hands for that matter. He felt around quickly before every step just incase he would trip amongst something on the floor. He almost tripped over an object only a few minutes into the walk, but he managed to hold his balance and continued to fallow Sasuke.

When they came to a halt, Sasuke held his hand against a wall, and turned around a bunch of runes with odd symbols on them. He turned the top to the right, then the one below to the left, and then slowly pressed the one below that like a button.

The wall started to shake as rubbles of tiny sand came falling down from the high endless ceiling. Soon when it all stopped, a door opened up, and Naruto's eyes widened like he had stuck twigs in his eyes to keep him from sleeping. His eyes darted forward, and his heart started pounding. He didn't believe what he saw, and immediately turned into confusion.

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted. Between the doors, another Sasuke stood in there path. His eyes were serious, and his mouth clamped shut as he stared dangerously at the Sasuke beside Naruto. "N-Nani!" Naruto yelled. "What's going on here?"

Both Sasuke's stared at eachother for a moment. The one beside Naruto took out a kunai from his back pocket and held it in front of his chest with a stance. He glared at Naruto, then at the Sasuke between the doors.

"Naruto!" The Sasuke by him called out. Naruto brought his attention towards him. "Run!" All of a sudden, Naruto felt confused. He wasn't sure what to do. Run? It was too fast for sudden for him.

_Two Sasuke's?_ Naruto thought that his mind was going mad because he hadn't had anything to eat in quite a long time, but he was too focused to worry about his hunger now; he needed to know what was going on.

A puff of smoke surrounded the Sasuke beside Naruto. Once it cleared, Naruto's eyes became even more exhausted after seeing so many surprising things. But yet, another surprised struck him.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto instantly dropped his jaw. Her pink hair shifted as she held her kunai with an even tighter grip. Her eyes showed fear, and love for the man she used to befriends with. She stretched her pink long glove with one hand, and gripped her kunai even harder.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "I said run!"

"Demo..." Naruto didn't want to leave her by herself. He got ready to fight with a stance. He held his hand out but stopped once he heard Sakura's voice again.

"Naruto, run! There's another exit on the level under us."

Sasuke leaned off the wall, and started forward. Naruto ran up to the rail beside them and looked down. All he saw was total darkness, not even a speck of anything bright saw within his eyes. _Does she want me to commit suicide? If so, she could've just asked._ Naruto joked in his mind, but then started to think. He wasn't in any joke or training at the moment, he couldn't just think of something dumb and silly.

"Naruto, we didn't come out all this way just to watch you stand." Sakura exclaimed. Her voice turned into demand.

_We? Who else is here?_ Naruto stared at Sakura, who started to back up whenever Sasuke took a step forward.

"Hm, I knew there was some trouble around here." Sasuke spat at the floor in front of Sakura. "I never expected you to be here... Sakura." He took a step forward, but Sakura took one back. After taking a moment to stare at her, he darted over his eyes towards Naruto. "You!" He charged with amazing speed with a shuriken in his hand.

"Naruto!" Sakura ran fast, almost fast enough to make her speed seem like teleportation, towards Naruto and used her kunai to block Sasuke's attack. The blades clashed in front of the paralyzed Naruto. "Move it, Naruto!" Sakura jumped and back-kicked Naruto, making him fall over the edge. She then pulled herself from air and spun herself up behind Sasuke.

Sakura jumped one lead back, and heard the cried of Naruto as he fell into a place that he couldn't see. _He smart,_ she said to herself_ Naruto, or your dead._

**.:Naruto:.**

Naruto fell screaming, not knowing what to do. He saw nothing but a pitch black nothing, and panicked for a second before calming himself down. Before his squinting eyes, he saw what looked like another ramp like hall; the same he was once on before being kicked down by Sakura.

_Let pray this works!_ He held his hands together in hand signs and yelled, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Several puffs of smoke appeared in front of him and shadow replications of him emerged.

"Let's get on that ramp!" Naruto yelled. He grabbed onto the arm of one of his replications, who then gripped another, and another until the last one reached the railings. They pulled eachother up and onto the railing as Naruto stood hanging, just waiting to be pulled up. "Sakura, hurry up." He said to himself. Once he reached the ledge, his replications vanished in smoke, and he started running through a heavy steel door.

**.:Naruto:.**

Sasuke attempted to jump over the edge and try to go after Naruto, but a tug on his shirt pulled him back. He flipped backwards and threw his shuriken at Sakura. She threw her kunai and clashed there weapons in midair. She then dug from her pocket and drew out another kunai.

"Sakura, move it!" Sasuke dashed over towards her with amazing speed, and threw his knee upwards into the stomach her Sakura, but she evaded it by jumping high into the moist misty air.

"Sasuke-kun, your still the monster you were after you left Konoha." Sakura yelled. She threw her kunai at Sasuke.

Easily, Sasuke dodged it and held a hand near the end of his mouth. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He breathed in fast, making his belly twice its size, and exhaled. A spinning formation of fire roared out of his mouth, and made its way towards Sakura.

"Kus-" Before she got to finish her curse, she flipped back and off the edge into where Naruto fell through the darkness. But unlike Naruto, she saw the next level quickly. She reached into her pocket and drew out another kunai; her last one, but this one had a string attacked to the look on the end off the handle.

She threw the kunai and it looped around a bar. She pulled herself with all her might. When she finally got to solid ground, she looked up where Sasuke still stood. He blasted another flare of fire down towards her, but it missed by miles.

She threw her intentions of avoiding Sasuke's attacks and stared over at the door Naruto ran though; it was still open. Sakura smiled that Naruto was able to climb up the rail. For a moment, she had thought that she might have killed Naruto by accident.

"Alright Naruto, keep running." Sakura smiled, and ran through the door, but this time, she closed it behind her with dust rushing out of its corners.

Sasuke looked down near the endless fall, and then grunted. "Have to stop them!" He ran past the door he made his appearance from and pulled out his Shadow Shuriken in a ready attempt to attack.

**.:Naruto:.**

Naruto didn't know where to go, but he didn't want to stop for multiple reasons. But he still couldn't help the fact that he ran away from a fight where Sasuke would have killed Sakura. He wanted to stay and fight, and almost did stop for that reason, but kept his pace and continued running.

The place he ran through were like isles of needles poking out from every angle. He always had to be careful before taking a turn. Everything was dark, and almost unable to see, but red heat lights cast a beam that showed the way.

"Matte!" Naruto heard from behind him. He, still running, turned his head around and saw Sakura running after him.

"Sakura-chan!" He stopped at a small intersection like area and waited for Sakura to get near.

He smiled in glory that she was not hurt, but all soon destroyed his mind once he saw another flying Sakura shoulder the one he saw first down to the floor. A puff of smoke covered the Sakura on the floor and when it cleared, it was Sasuke who sat there.

Naruto flinched back. _That was close._ Naruto thought to himself. If he were to let Sasuke fool him, then he probably would have been dead.

"Naruto, exits right there!" Sakura pointed out to a door behind him. She started running towards Naruto, but felt a sharp and painful feeling in her leg. She fell down to the floor hard with a high pitched yelp.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out.

When Sakura stared back at her left leg, she saw Sasuke's shuriken halfway in her back thigh. She quickly pulled it out and tried walking, but fell back down.

"Sakura, get out of the way!" Sasuke jumped over her, and started for Naruto.

Naruto took a stance, and got ready to throw a punch towards Sasuke, but Sasuke stopped, and stood inches away from Naruto as if he had been turned to stone.

_Nani?_ Sasuke tried moving his arms and legs, but they wouldn't obey his will. The only movement he was able to do with his body was bob his head around.

A white light beamed into the room from the door behind him as the sun shined in. Naruto quickly whirled around to see an old friend of his; Nara Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto smiled, but then turned his attentions towards the hurt Sakura.

Shikamaru through a smirked, "Kage Mane no Jutsu."

Sasuke looked down at his feet, and saw a shadow connecting from his to Shikamaru's. His face changed as he was unable to move anymore.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru started. "Get Sakura, let's move."

Naruto nodded and ran past Sasuke. Sasuke wanted to swing an arm at Naruto as he passed right by him, but was unable to because of the shadows that bind his body. All he could do was watch.

"Sakura-chan, daijoubu?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded slowly. Naruto kneeled down in front of her and said, "Here, get on my back, I'll carry you."

Without arguing, Sakura wrapped both arms around Naruto's neck as he lifted her onto his back. Naruto got back up and ran past the immobile and angered Sasuke. Before exiting the bright door that led outside, Naruto turned back around and stuck out a tongue out at him. He smiled, and turned around.

Before they left the room, Sakura turned her head back as far as she could, trying to get one glimpse of Sasuke, but could only manage to see his black hair that waffled against the wind as the door closed behind them.

As Sasuke was free from Shikamaru's shadows, he darted towards the door in search for revenge, but stopped.

"Sasuke-kun." A voice echoed through the room and it vibrated his ears. "Let them go, I will deal with them later on."

Sasuke smiled, and soon gave away an evil smile. "Hai... Orochimaru."

**.:Naruto:.**

Leap after leap, they wouldn't stop for anyone. With Sakura on the back of Naruto, Shikamaru lead the way out. The fresh smell of clean air never smelt so good in Naruto's nostrils; he almost gagged trying to sniff so many times.

"I thought you guys weren't going to come." Naruto commented. "But since you did, what took you so long?"

"We couldn't just approach and run after you with Orochimaru, how dumb would that be?" Sakura answered. "So we had to go back to the village and talk about this with Tsunade-sama."

"To tell you the truth though, Naruto, we almost forgot about you." Shikamaru added.

Naruto closed his eyes in disbelief, but the way his friends always treated him, he wondered if it was true.

When Shikamaru stopped on a branch, he held out a hand and halted Naruto. Naruto, with the extra weight of Sakura on his back, landed and almost fell over, but Shikamaru held him back up. Both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sheesh Naruto, you're so troublesome." He looked around there surroundings, and soon called, "Neji!"

Leaves brushed from the branches on top of them, and Neji soon fell out. He landed between Naruto and Shikamaru with his eyes bulged like veins were going to explode. He smiled at Naruto, then turned to Shikamaru. "About time you guys made it." He said.

"Hai, hai, we ran into some trouble." Shikamaru confessed. "By the way, we have an injury, use your Byakugan and see if someone is following us will you?"

Neji nodded. "Byakugan!" An invisible wave echoed through the bushes, and from Neji's view, it was like a ghost moving through solids. He went through many objects, and when finally satisfied, said, "No. We may rest..."

"Good." Shikamaru sighed. He jumped several story-like heights down from the branch they stood on and fell on flat grasslands. Naruto and Neji followed shortly.

"Is this all... just you guys?" Naruto asked. He sat Sakura down near a tree for her to lean against.

Shikamaru nodded. "Hai, I wanted to bring Chouji, but he was too busy... well you know him. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino are on a mission already, they should be back soon. As for the rest, I really have no idea."

"We should hurry back to Konoha soon." Neji suggested. The feeling of resting right after running was uncomfortable, even though his Byakugan showed no presence of a follower. "I don't like resting when we're only a few minutes away from the enemy."

"Daijoubu, Sakura-chan?" Naruto sweetly asked. He tried moving her leg, but she pushed back.

"Don't." She said. "Just give me some kind of bandage; I should just cover this wound up until we get to Tsunade-sama."

"Demo, demo, you've learned some medical skills from Tsunade-baachan, can't you heal yourself?"

Sakura shook her head. "Minor cuts, yes; but this is too deep to be a minor."

"Here." Neji handed over a few lengths wide of tape bandages. Naruto took them and nodded. "It won't help as much, but it will enough until we get back."

Naruto handed the bandage to Sakura, who slowly wrapped it around her wound several times on the thigh. On the final round of bandage, she tugged on it fairly rough, making her yelp as she felt pain throughout her leg. Slowly, she took a couple of breaths and leaned back against the tree she sat against,

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto leaned forward; wanting to help.

"Hai, mochiron; just have to make it tight, that's all. We've been in tougher situations before." She slowly smiled at Naruto. "Arigatou, for carrying me this far."

Naruto gave a smile back. "You saved me, heh." Naruto reached a hand back behind his neck and laughed out a victory round.

"Neji-kun, Shikamaru-kun, let's go. Tsunade-sama is waiting for us." Sakura, with the help of Naruto, got up to her feet.

"Are you able to jump?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded. "Hai, but let's go now so I can get this healed. Sakura attempted a jump, but only managed a few feet before falling back down. "Damnit!" She yelled.

"Sakura." Shikamaru said. "Quit playing tough, let Naruto carry you, you wont be able to make it on your own.

Sakura slowly forced a smile on her face and nodded just before getting on the back of Naruto. She felt weak having to be carried, but her leader, Shikamaru, gave her orders in order to get them back faster. She wasn't fond with it, but she also wasn't against it. She enjoyed the fast movement paste that Naruto was able to do with extra weight. And it wasn't long until they finally saw the gates of Konoha.

* * *

**a/n:** Thank you for reading! For update dates, please check on mt profile. And please, give me a review. All I ask is a few seconds to a minute of your time. Thank you, and please stay tuned for my next chapter, it shouldn't take long at all!


	2. Hungry, in the night of peace

**Summary:** His final war, his final stand, and his final breath. After a Konoha elite shinobi was kidnapped by Orochimaru, the mission is accounted for Naruto retrieve him. Death, love, chances, and traitors, all in one. 'Naruto' Sakura cried... no... he's dead.

**Rated:** "T" for language, and violence throughout.  
**Disclaimer: **Yes, I don't own Naruto.

**Naruto: Havoc Amongst His Final Breath  
**By: x HoRo HoRo  
**Chapter Two:  
**Hungry, in the night of peace

* * *

The sun has already almost set by the time they have gotten to Konoha. The sun started its rays of orange and yellow over the skies, and the cool night breeze started to reincarnate back up into the village. Every shop or market in Konoha started to close, and the villagers started for there home. Only shinobi standing guard, and other lights from houses were living at the moment. 

"Jounin!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs. "Eh!" He pulled his hair in major disbelief and scolded Shikamaru, who stood in front of him with his tongue out; taunting him as he turned to a smile. "This isn't fair!"

"Baka." Shikamaru retorted. He crossed his arms and illy faded back from Naruto.

"I've only been gone for about five days, and Shikamaru's already a Jounin?" Naruto continued, rampaging with words.

Sakura and her team had just gotten through with bringing Naruto back to the village of Konoha. Though it had taken them a little while longer than they had expected, everyone managed to get back safely. Tsunade had healed Sakura's wound to her back thigh and they had just told Naruto that Shikamaru had become a Jounin. Though of course the reaction Naruto gave was expected.

All Sakura could do at the moment was silently laugh to herself and gaze at the stupidity of Naruto as he showed his reaction to what he had just heard minutes ago. Really, she felt like lobbing him in the head like she always would, but felt that it was better for Shikamaru to keep his humiliation up. At the same time, she felt sorry for Naruto just as she enjoyed is frustration.

"Shika-"

"Hai, hai, yamete, Naruto." Tsunade briefly interrupted.Naruto stared up at a throne like chair and saw Tsunade sitting with her head rested against her fist. She gave a small smile, and soon got up to her feet. Her green robe dragged on the floor and her sleeves hung inches below her wrist, for they were almost ten times her size, and yet, she continued to wear them every day and night.

"Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto quickly turned, and then changed glances back at Shikamaru. "Shika-"

"Please, Naruto, just shut up for a moment." Tsunade pleaded in a non-convincing way as she interrupted Naruto once again. She walked down a small couple stair step and made her way towards the group that saved Naruto from Orochimaru and Sasuke. "Naruto." She started.

Naruto kept his gaze on Shikamaru, the Jounin that made him jealous, but then slowly turned his head towards his Hokage. "Na…ni?"

"Since you were captive for almost a week, do you have anything to tell us?" She said, looking Naruto dead in the eyes.

"Like…" Naruto stared nervously at her.

"Like… plans you might have accidentally heard, or any of that?" Naruto thought for a minute, and then shook his head. Tsunade frowned and gave a hard sigh, disappointed to hear nothing.. She pushed Naruto back on the fore heard with a finger. He fell over lopsided, but then got back up to his feet, dusting dirt off his orange baggy pants. "This whole time, you didn't get one piece of tip or note from them?" Naruto shook his head again, but held his arms tightly around his stomach as he heard it growl in hunger.

"Being captive for five straight days without food is hard enough." He fell down to his knees and clamped harder to his stomach. "Having to do something else in enemy territory is even harder; especially on an empty stomach.

Tsunade slapped her head, and sighed heavily once again. She stared over at Sakura who covered her mouth; she seemed to be laughing. Her glance changed towards Shikamaru, who stood by Naruto and stared at him with the same old boring look he gave everyone. Neji stood alone in the corner far from the group. He had his arms crossed across his body and stared out the window. His mind wondered elsewhere and didn't care for this discussion and the aura around him.

The doors behind the group slid open, and a joyful girl with almost white colored, but blonde, hair and deep blue eyes walked in.

"Your all back!" She exclaimed.

"Ino." Shikamaru was surprised to see her in a time like this. Usually whenever someone would have a group discussion with Tsunade, Ino would always stay out, but not this time.

"Ino?" Sakura turned her head to see her friends walk in between the whole group.

"Hey Naruto, glad to see your still alive." She patted Naruto on top of his head giving a smile as she walked by.

"All fine!" Naruto assured her with a thumb up. Annoyed as always to see her, he forced himself to take his actions into a polite direction.

After staring around, she stepped back to Sakura and smiled. "Good job." She said, "I knew you'd do it." She commented, but then stared to Shikamaru. Her eyes changed as she stared into his. A cool but also warm feeling flowed in her veins. The air around her seemed to all of a sudden become thick as she tried to move, but for a small moment, couldn't. But the feeling stopped as she forced her legs to help move her forward. She shook her head, surprised at the sudden feeling she had.

Shikamaru felt like stepping back as Ino got closer, but stood his grounds to her. In his mind, the only person that really scared him was Ino… especially when she unleashes her anger towards him or Chouji for doing things that she didn't want them to do, or when she called something 'messing up' or even 'careless.' As for Shikamaru's point of view in those situations, he thought it was all fine.

"Shikamaru, we need to talk." Her voice changed into a grumpy tone, shivers went down Shikamaru's back as he heard her words clearly, but wished he had just imagined them.

Shikamaru tilted his head back. "Nani?"

Ino turned to Tsunade and bowed down. "Sorry I've interrupted, Tsunade-sama." She said, and turned to leave. "Come on, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru sighed, and stared back at Naruto, then started to leave. "Ino, sometimes you're so troublesome." He said on his way out.

As Shikamaru left the room, everyone stood silent for a moment. Sakura gazed from Naruto to Tsunade, and hoped that something else would uproar into a conversation, nothing ever happened. For minutes, the room fell silent. The only thing that happened was the shifting windows and blown hair that was emenced by the wind as the moon finally beamed overhead. Stars flocked it like a mother, and slowly, the clouds formed smooth blankets around the night sky.

"I should go as well, my fathers waiting for me." Neji said after a long stretch, and then jumped out the window he once stared at the whole time. His jump made the curtains wave like the wind had brushed up against them.After Neji disappeared, Tsunade brought her attentions back to Naruto.

"I guess we can talk about this later." Tsunade turned to leave, but stop when she heard Naruto's stomach growled of hunger again. She sighed, and her eyes twitched suddenly in a quick hesitation. She turned back, "Naruto, if you want, I can treat you for dinner, you seem awfully hungry."

Naruto's eyes shot open wide and his jaws dropped. "Haha! Ramen with Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto clenched his fist and started walking towards Tsunade. _How could things get better? Saved by your best friends, and dinner with the Hokage_. He thought.

"Matte!" Sakura yelled. Naruto and Tsunade turned back; both had questioned looks on their faces. Naruto swung his arms behind his head and smiled brightly Sakura had her hand out with her face towards the ground. Her face, filled with lost frustration and a bit of shyness. Tsunade punched her hands to the side of her waist. She wanted to leave, and get the rest for what she planned to do the next day.

"Nani? Sakura-chan." Naruto slowly said. He wanted to quickly get to dinner; he didn't think his stomach would hold up any longer. His hunger was now his brain, and when it roared food, it wanted food and nothing else. Though his mind wondered off towards his teammate, his stomach was in control, and forced him to slowly step backwards into Tsunade.

Sakura raised her face, showing her green eyes that seemed as if they had just been dried up on tears. "Um, Tsunade-sama, if you don't mind… I'd like to give Naruto dinner at my house."

Naruto's eyes twitched. _Nani, dinner at Sakura-chan's house?_ Naruto thought for a moment. At first, he thought it was a trap, but he has known her for too long for her to just set up a random trap. But still, Naruto felt curious in why she invited him all of a sudden. _Is this a date?_ Naruto held a finger up to his chin. _She's not like this all the time… especially to me._ The thought didn't last long enough for him to continue thinking, his hunger broke in.

Tsunade gave a small mouth-closed laugh. She looked at Sakura, her face wasn't quite happy at all. But instead, it was more sorrow like. Tsunade had a hint of probably why she felt such a way, but didn't want to get involved. Still, she didn't want her former student to feel so sad… especially during a typical time where every skilled shinobi in Konoha is needed; of course, she was one of them.

"If you really want to... sure." Tsunade left through another door behind her chair.

Naruto stared at Tsunade until she left, but then curiously stared over at Sakura. He still wondered by she even wanted such a thing, to feed him dinner? Naruto didn't care whether he went with Tsunade or not, he was hungry enough to eat anywhere. But the last time Naruto remembered something like this was the night Sasuke had left Konoha. Then memories struck Naruto. He started to remember the promises that he made to her, Sakura. Both promises were vanished and broken. The hurtful feelings were brought back, and made him frown.

"Naruto, daijoubu'ka?" Sakura asked, seeing his sudden frown after her own.

Naruto blocked her out. He heard her voice, but didn't hear exactly every single word that was said. His mind kept him in a dark place, the thoughts of following his way of the ninja was hard for him, especially when he breaks his own rule of the ninja. Anger overwhelmed him as he thought of one man; Uchiha Sasuke.

"Naruto?" Sakura repeated, he still didn't answer. She stared up into his eyes. Sakura thought that they'd move towards her way at the scent of her motion, but they didn't. She could tell that Naruto thought of something bad, his head shook in fear, and a sweat-drop fell down from his cheeks. His eyes morphed into a circular shape as they suddenly turned red. His dark pupils enlarged as the whisker markings on his face darkened. His nailed evolved into claws, his teeth enlarged into vampiric like weapons, and eventually, his arms and neck showed muscle that he had never had.

Naruto hesitated for a second, and then jerked his head up. He made a gagging noise as he turned around towards Sakura. Her eyes showed that she was feeling a bit worried about him, but would never really admit it."Naruto…" She could feel the energy, chakra, that formed around him. Warm, and filled with hate and sorrow. Even thought she didn't have the Sharingan, nor Byakuugan, she saw the aura that surrounded Naruto clearly.

Naruto shook his head and pulled on his yellow hair. "Sasuke!" He yelled.

"Naruto!" Sakura reached an arm out but he pushed it back.

Once he turned towards her, his eyes flashed red. _The Demon Fox... Kyuubi_ Sakura thought. The anger of thinking about Sasuke flowed easily through the pain he had. His anger triggered to release the kyuubi in him, but slowly, he calmed, and slowly, the redness in his eyes went away. His vampire like teeth started to move back in, and his whiskers lightened.

"Sakura-chan." He said. He shook his head to get himself out of the misery he was in and looked around the room as if he had not known what just happened. When his head seemed to be cleared of himself, he stared up at Sakura. _She was here the whole time?_ "Sakura-chan…"

Sakura breathed. "Daijoubu'ka, Naruto?" Naruto thought, _was_ he okay? He wasn't sure, but didn't want to see Sakura worry about him… if she was.

"Hai…" He said, not knowing if what he said was a lie, or the truth.

**.:Naruto:.**

The door slowly shut behind Shikamaru as he entered after Ino. He felt uneasy being in a small room, her room. Ino sat down on her bed, her short hair-blonde was like what she had back when she first met Sakura, soft and never got in her way in action. A blue hair-bead was used in style for her looks. The window being open let in a cool breeze that blew her hair in several directions, and the moons rays made the room look like it was covered in light white spechs. The smell was mainly perfume and other varieties of equipments that Ino had.

"What is it now, Ino." Shikamaru asked. His voice was fast and demanding. He didn't want to be in such a place. After a mission, he was tired, and the way he always has been throughout his life, all he wanted to do was lay back in bed and go to sleep.

"You promised me!" Ino spat. "You promised me that you wouldn't do this."

Shikamaru made a face. "Again? Ino! I didn't promise you anything."Alot of times, he just couldn't stand her. Being the leader of his team, it always seemed different when the kunoichi in his group was around. It was always her.

"But still- Shikamaru, you have to stop! Your a-"

"I'm a Jounin now." He said, pausing her in her continual speech. "I know that!"

"Exactly!" Ino stood up with her interruption. "I know you're a Jounin, that's why I want you to stop!"

Shikamaru turned away. He didn't want to see her face now. Why did she have to be so demanding? Why did she even have to bring such a troublesome thing up? Shikamaru never knew why. But when it came to him, all she ever did was try to order him around, along with Chouji. But now that he's a Jounin, things only got worst. He wondered if Ino even knew what the job of a shinobi was, because from their conversations they've had several times already, she seemed to be clueless.

"Shikamaru, now that you're a Jounin, you'll be given A Ranked missions, you'll be ordered to go after S Ranked wanted enemies, and you know how dangerous those are!" She continued, every word she announced meant every more word Shikamaru would have to endure, and he was already tired.

"What makes you think that you can stop me?" Shikamaru said in his defense.

"You promised that you wouldn't go on the last mission."

Shikamaru started getting irritated. 'You promised', 'you promised' was all she ever said, and he was starting to get sick of things. He felt like punching his own teammate, but held back his force.He knew how Ino felt for him, and he knew that Ino just wanted him to be safe, but what he wanted Ino to learn was to trust him. Trust him that he can be a leader, trust him that he will be safe, trust him that he will come back alive. But so far ever since becoming a Jounin, it was nothing but yelling and hell from her.

"Ino!" Shikamaru pushed her back onto her bed forcefully. She fell back hard, but slowly sat back up. "You know I had to! Sakura and Naruto were my friends, and are yours as well. Were you just saying that you didn't want Naruto to be saved?"

Ino shook her head. "No! But Tsunade-sama could have called some other shinobi to do the mission."

"She _did_, Sakura, and Neji came along as well. Why are you complaining? We all got back safely in a short amount of time _with _Naruto and a simple healed wound."

Shikamaru started to leave, but Ino held him back."Matte!" She called out, but was pushed back onto her bed again. "Shikamaru!"

"Ino!" Shikamaru yelled. "Shut, the hell up!" he walked up to the door and opened it. "Next time you want to talk, it better not be as lame as this..." He left, but not before slamming the door hard behind him creating several strong sounded vibrations throughout Ino's room.

All Ino did was stare with the dew of tears in her eyes. Her heart felt heavy, and her head wanted to explode and destroy the pain that was inside her. She lay down on her bed and scuffed her pillow on her head, screaming a vicious screech. She slowly and quietly called out Shikamaru's name several time and felt the pillow get moist with the rain that dwealt her eyes.

**.:Naruto:.**

In the next ten minutes, Sakura and Naruto had forgotten what had just happened back at Tsunade's place. They didn't feel like talking about it after hearing the word "Sasuke." It would seem that the name had been cursed and everyone who hears it would be drugged into silence. Being seperated into there own world as they would.

As the two walked in the dark night fell streets, everything was calm and silent. No one was outside but the two, and nothing but the lamps and lights lit the streets from pure darkness. Fireflies flew around in circled groups. There mating season, probably not. Did they have such a thing? It didn't matter, but it all looked so pretty in front of Sakura and Naruto. Both smiled brightly as if they had never seen anything so beautiful in their lives. Both laughed until their eyes met, then turned around.

"Um- Sakura-chan." Naruto, still walking, started. "Why did you all of a sudden invite me over? It's not like everyday you do such a nice thing to me."

Sakura hesitated before answering. Her breath ran out when she tried talking the first time, but the second time around words managed to get through."I-I wanted to talk to you about something…" She softly said.

"What is it?" Naruto veered over to Sakura, his blue eyes showed curiosity. "...Another mission?"

Sakura laughed. "What the heck Naruto? You know that Konoha is in a war with Orochimaru, and all you can think about are missions?"

"Well hey, missions are simple training. It gets us ready for this… war... so they call it atleast."

"Naruto, this _is_ a war that all of us have to take seriously-"

"Well then let's attack; we know where Orochimaru's hideout is! Let's kill them." Naruto threw up a fist after another. "It's Konoha against Orochimaru, it won't be as hard."

"Naruto, we wouldn't be playing safe, who knows what Orochimaru has, remember, he's a Sannin with… _Him_." The "Him" part, Naruto knew that Sakura knew it referred to Sasuke. But he never wanted to talk about that name, atleast for as long as he's in Konoha. Only bad memories would be brought back.

"Well, what was is you wanted to say before we started talking about this?" Naruto said, getting back to there regular conversation.Sakura waited for a few minutes before talking.

"Oh! I-" A distance voice interrupted her.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Get home!" Up a couple stories high, Sakura's mother stood on their porch, waving at them. Her eyes beamed down towards them as if they were the only thing that was viewable. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto stared up and smiled; he waved back and started running. "Come on Sakura-chan, your moms waiting."

As Sakura saw Naruto frantically running towards her house, she couldn't help but to smile. Why did she smile? That was the question that all of a sudden struck her head like a kunai.Before she knew it, her legs were moving fast and she found herself running towards her house, after Naruto.

When she finally approached her door, Naruto had already been waiting inside for several seconds. He smiled as she entered through her door."About time you made it." Naruto joked. He held the door open for Sakura as she walked in.

"Sit, Naruto, I'll make you some ramen right away." Sakura said, and walked off into her kitchen. In the next room.

"Hai!" Naruto sat down on the floor next to a knee high table. He stretched out his arms and leaned back down onto the floor, stretching his back from his long journey. "This is nice." He said to himself. It was the first time ever he has been inside Sakura's house.

On her walls were pictures of Team 7's first few days being together. Naruto remembered that was the day that his whole life had changed. No one called him names or stayed away from him like they used to anymore. Everyone he knew started to respect him, and everyone that respected him started to become close friends to him. Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Sakura, and he'd hate to say his name, but even Sasuke. Those were the days that Naruto would never forget no matter what happened.

Bored, he got up and walked into a small skinny hallway. He found a half opened door and without asking, he stepped in. Immediately he recognized that it was Sakura's room. Just telling by the scent and flagrance that she always had when he was around her gave it away. He turned to leave because he didn't want to be entering without permission, but his eyes caught something; a picture.

Naruto looked back to see if Sakura was anywhere around, when he saw that she wasn't, he slowly walked in. On her dresser, was a picture that Naruto would remember for the rest of his life; it was the picture that he too had on his dresser next to his head.Sakura stood in the middle with her long pink hair blowing against the sudden wind, smiling at the camera with Kakashi's hand on the head of both Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks throughout the picture, but the camera managed to get both staring at eachother; a rivalry stare. Naruto picked it up to get a closer look; another image caught his eyes as a small yellow paper dropped out from the bottom. Setting the picture back down, Naruto grabbed and unwrapped the note. He read it…

_Alright! Today was full of surprises for me. The best thing, I actually got to be on Team 7 with Uchiha Sasuke. But every good has to have a bad, that baka Naruto is with us as well. Just when I think something has gone great it's totally ruined. Everyone in the class hates him, why can't he be stuck with some other lame team?Sometimes when I think about it, he should just go to hell. I don't blame anyyone who thinks about this, it's the truth. That's how much everyone in class hates this guy. He's probably one of the most annoying kids in class._

_Oh, the worst, he KISSED Sasuke-kun, what the hell! I knew he was perverted, but I didn't think he'd be that bad._

Naruto made a face and stared up at the ceiling, "Someone bumped me." He whispered to himself. After a long moment of silence to himself, he continued reading,

_O'well, what's done is done. I can't change it anymore. Who knows, maybe this Naruto will actually act like an actual guy this time. He's competing with the best! Let's just hope he doesn't ruin my future with Sasuke-kun._

Naruto crumpled, and then dropped the paper to the floor. _Did she really think about me that way? _He asked himself. He thought back to everything he has ever said to her the first few days of Team 7. Every single time, Sakura'd reject him. Though his feelings were brutally hurt back then, somehow, for some reason, his feelings were being killed even worst at the moment. He wasn't sure how he felt about Sakura now. Back then, he had a crush on her, and now, was it just friends? Or something more, he didn't know, nor did he think he ever will know as well.

But when he thought about it, he did ruin there future. He thought of what would life be like if he never existed, what if he was never there. Sasuke and Sakura, would they be together, or would Sasuke still be what he is now; a monster?

"Remember those days?" Quickly, Naruto whirled around and saw Sakura standing at the door.

"Sakura-chan… I was…" He hesitated to even talk. "I was just..." a sweat fell down his cheek as he tried thinking of words.

"I had a lot of fun back then… even if you were pretty lame, Naruto."

_Lame?_ Naruto crossed his arms and turned away for a few seconds, then turned back.

"Your ramen is ready." Sakura said, and left.

Naruto followed her back out to the table, and sat down. Sakura sat down on the opposite side of him. She grabbed a picture from behind her head and stared at it. It was a picture of her and Sasuke during their mission to escort the Snow Princess. She remembered that day, a lot of warriors from the Snow Country died, along with the Snow King. That was one of the saddest missions she had ever been on, and hoped that she wouldn't have to go through another sad mission. Yet, they also had a lot of fun at the end of it all.

Sakura laid a finger on the picture, touching Sasuke's face. Though it was only plastic paper, she imagined what it would feel like touching his face once more. She imagined his skin soft, and smooth like a babies. But for some reason, the Sasuke she touched had the evilness of Orochimaru's cursed seal. Sakura closed her eyes, and tried to imagine the Sasuke she met in the first place, but couldn't. All she could see was darkness, and the cursed seal. She couldn't figure out why, but that was all she ever could see.

Sakura sighed, and placed the picture back where she got it. When she turned towards Naruto, he was gone. She quickly stood up. _Where did he go?_ She looked back in her room, but he wasn't there _Naruto?_. She ran back out to where Naruto was eating and started a panic when she still couldn't find him. "Naru-" She stopped, as she suddenly saw Naruto out on her porch. She walked out there, and saw him leaning against the ledge. He was quiet, as if thinking about something.

Naruto stared at the full moon as if he had never seen it before. Tonight, the moon looked extraordinary huge and looked blasted light like the sun every single day. Naruto smiled as a cool breeze splashed against his face, and the scent of a close Sakura blossom came nearer.

"I remember the last time the moon was this big." Naruto started. "It was the night the old man Hokage died." Naruto gave a little giggle.

"Naruto." Sakura leaned against the ledge a few feet away from him.

"Nani?" Naruto stared at the green eyes that glowed brightly in the moonlight. He knew that he had a huge crush on Sakura, but for some reason, his feelings started to change in some odd way. Again, he wasn't sure how he felt for Sakura anymore, buy didn't the thoughts distracting him at the moments.

"Um… uh…-" She stared down at the grassy ground beneath the porch. She saw it flare like flames across wind.

"Gomennasai." Naruto quickly said.

Sakura turned in confusion. "Nani?"

"Remember all the things I said to you?"

"Hmm... what things?"

"In one whole day, I promised you two things; I promised you that Sasuke would never betray us, and then I promise you that I'd bring him back to Konoha…" Naruto slammed his fist hard on the ledge. His voice cracked every time he started talking again. "But I had to lie… that asshole, Sasuke, made me lie to you... Kiba was right, I shouldn't promise anything that I can't keep."

"Naruto-"

"You don't deserve any of this. Sakura-chan… Like I said, you're in a pain that I know well." Naruto gave a long hard stare at the bright moon. "It's probably the worst pain a human could ever feel."

"I…" _You don't desere any of this_. She remembered the day after, and what she said to herself about Naruto. The words were exact, and it was when she felt Naruto for the first time, she remebered saying, _He always knew about me_. And she would say the exact same thing again.

"I'm keeping this promise though… I _will_ bring Sasuke back no matter what." Naruto smiled and gave a thumb up. His teeth shined like Gai-sensei's would every time he smiled. "Even if my dream of Hokage has to be shattered."

Sakura wanted to smile at what Naruto sad, but didn't. She thought that he'd end up accidentally lying like he did the last two times. But she still didn't want to give up. It all just shows how much Naruto wanted to make everything right again. Everything meant life and Sasuke now. Naruto said that he'd bring Sasuke back, even at the cost of his own life. _That's what a Hokage is_.

The two stood silent for the next few minutes, feeling the breeze of the cool night wind that the moon gave out. Crickets chirped amongst themselves, and the owls, though they were far away, were heard as if they were right next to them.

Sakura saw the orange movement of Naruto as he walked back inside. He passed the table and stopped at the door.

Without turning back around, Naruto said, "Sakura-chan, I know I didn't make those two promises fulfilling, but I need you to believe me on this… if you want this one to succeed." With those words, he opened the door, and stepped out. "Arigatou." and left with the door slamming shut behind him.

Sakura stood alone in one single room. _He promised… again_. She wondered if this time he'd keep his promise. But like he said, if she wanted him to keep his promise, she'd have to believe in him.

"I do." She said.Sakura turned back towards the table and smiled at Naruto's bowl of ramen. To Sakura's surprise, every single piece of noodle string was still in there. The beef and shrimp that she had added were not touched, and the chopsticks were still together; unbroken apart. _He didn't even take a bite._

_

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_

Thank you, thank you.  
Please lend me a review, it's only a little bit of your time that I ask.  
Thank you, and please stay tuned for my next chapter.


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